‘Arun Dairy’ the lone dairy plant for pasteurized toned milk in
Karsingsa, Itanagar Arunachal Pradesh is struggling to make its
presence felt despite 11 years of its existence. Go to any store in
the state capital and it is a rarity to come across this locally
processed milk. Till available data of 2013, the plant was generating
only 1000 Litres Per Day of pasteurized milk out of its capacity of
5000 LPD, not sufficient even for the capital complex.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the facility has been shut for
the last 7 months. At the moment the dairy sector remains
insignificant and unorganised in this Himalayan state despite a huge
consumer market waiting to be tapped.
 Non availability of raw milk has been cited as the major reason for
this underproduction. Therefore there is need for generating community
awareness to step up milk production by motivating Village Dairy
Cooperative Societies. As the indigenous people are not traditional
cattle rearers, the state needs to provide subsidies to farmers to
encourage them while also providing subsidies to buy livestock,
fodder, vaccine etc.
Arunachal can learn a lot from Assam which has been able to bring
‘white revolution’ by engaging in information sharing and technical
expertise. Such interactions will provide a platform for exchanging
ideas and sharing experiences between milk producers and also address
issues and problems arising in this field.
Across the country, dairy development has played a major role in
increasing milk production, improving the nutritional standards of the
people, generating employment opportunities, improving income levels
in rural areas especially for small and marginal farmers.
 This year in January, the Arunachal Pradesh government has inked a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Dairy Development
Board to kick-start dairy development in the state. NDDB was set up in
1965 with the basic objective of replicating the famous Amul model
throughout the country.
It will be interesting to watch how the situation will evolve in the
near future especially under the expertise and handholding of the
board.
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